Language, vocal organs and barbarophonoi

Strabo, 14.2.28

Abstract

Strabo (14.2.28), commenting on the Homeric term barbarophonoi, upholds the onomatopoeic origin of barbaros and outlines an history of its usage, which goes from the meaning of “speak roughly” to the one of “mispronunciation” of Greek. In order to interpret the passage, pertinent texts from the medical and acoustic-musical are commented; concluding thus, that Strabo knows the reflections on the voice and language that lead him to a definition of barbaros based, mainly, on a linguistic criterion.